A survey is presented of the existing fallout shelter potential in basements and mines in the United States, and in boats on bodies of water of sufficient size and depth. Also presented is an analysis of the design, construction, and habitability of a minimum-type, improvised home basement family fallout shelter, and the shelter potential in an actual suburban community in the Northeast. The survey shows that about 60% of the population in the U. S. would have access to basement shelter, with the figures ranging from better than 80% in OCDM regions 1, 2, and 4 to less than 20% in regions 3, 5, and 7. Mine shelter could be an important shelter resource for two to four million people in some 16 states. A family-size, sand-bag fallout shelter can be readily constructed in the basement corner by one person for a materials' cost of about $60. The shelter, which offers a protection factor of 100 against outside radiation levels, can be assembled in an hour if the materials are suitably stored along the basement walls, and realistic excursion schedules appear possible after two days even in the heaviest fallout areas. A survey of public and private buildings in a typical northeastern suburban city of 25,000 population indicated that the basements of schools, churches, and other large buildings do not offer significantly better protection than that of the average home basement (i.e., about a factor of 20).

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